Tesla's Autopilot may have trouble recognizing fire trucks

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The National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation into a crash involving a Tesla Model S and a fire truck that took place on a freeway in the Los Angeles area earlier this week. In the Jan. 22 crash, a Model S sedan rear-ended a fire truck that was parked in the emergency lane and was responding to another accident, The Mercury News reported.

No one was injured in the crash, which caused heavy frontal damage to the Model S and some damage to the rear left section of the fire truck.

The driver of the Model S, who was the only person in the vehicle, reportedly said that the Autopilot driver-assist system was engaged at the time of the crash, according to The Mercury News. However, it has not definitively been established by investigating agencies that Autopilot was in fact engaged at the time of the crash or in the seconds prior to the crash.

As in previous crashes involving Autopilot, it is expected that the car's computer will be able to provide investigators from the NTSB and the automaker telemetry data from the incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined the probable cause of a May 2016 crash involving a semitruck and a Tesla Model S, in which the electric sedan drove under the truck's ...

This will be the second investigation involving Tesla's Autopilot driver-assist system by the NTSB; in 2016, the agency investigated a fatal Florida crash involving a Model S in which Autopilot use was eventually confirmed. In that incident, a Model S drove under the trailer of a semitruck at a high speed, ripping the roof off the car and killing the driver. The NTSB determined that "truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way and a car driver’s inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation" were the probable cause of the crash.

"Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, such as Tesla’s Autopilot, require the continual and full attention of the driver to monitor the traffic environment and be prepared to take action to avoid crashes," the NHTSA stated at the conclusion of the report of the fatal Florida crash. "Automated Emergency Braking systems have been developed to aid in avoiding or mitigating rear-end collisions. The systems have limitations and may not always detect threats or provide warnings or automatic braking early enough to avoid collisions. Although perhaps not as specific as it could be, Tesla has provided information about system limitations in the owner’s manuals, user interface and associated warnings/alerts, as well as a driver monitoring system that is intended to aid the driver in remaining engaged in the driving task at all times. Drivers should read all instructions and warnings provided in owner’s manuals for ADAS technologies and be aware of system limitations."

Mobileye, the company that supplies sensors for Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot driver assist system, is publicly criticizing Tesla's use and advertisement of the system in the marketplace, ...

In the weeks following the Florida crash, Tesla published a blog post reminding users to keep their hands on the steering wheel while using Autopilot, and IT subsequently made the system more stringent when it comes to monitoring the actions of the driver.

"The Tesla’s automated vehicle control system was not designed to, and could not, identify the truck crossing the Tesla’s path or recognize the impending crash," the NTSB said in a statement. "Therefore, the system did not slow the car, the forward collision warning system did not provide an alert, and the automatic emergency braking did not activate."

In the wake of several crashes in which Autopilot use was suspected or confirmed Tesla, has faced criticism for overstating the abilities of the system and for not designing greater safety mechanisms into the system that would compel proper usage.

Tesla had to retrain store staff in China after it was publicized that the cars were marketed as "self-driving" -- a translation snafu was blamed -- and that store staff gave demonstration rides to prospective customers while keeping their hands off the steering for significant periods of time.